U.S. Wheat Marketing Overseas

US Wheat Associates Vice President Steve Wirsching says that the competition in the global wheat market has increased dramatically over the past two decades.

 

Wirsching: “We dominated the world market at that time. Now days there is a lot of competition. We have to rise above that. We have to offer something different. We have to stand out. The world market now is extremely competitive. Customers want value therefore we must provide superior quality and service to compensate for our higher prices. And when I say for our higher prices I’m talking about U.S. wheat generally trades at a $1 a premium — a $1 per bushel that’s around $37 per metric ton — to Russian wheat, or Black Sea wheat or French wheat.”

 

He says it is our wheat’s superior quality that makes a difference.

 

Wirsching: “Japan, Korea and Taiwan those are the premium buyers. These are markets that are able and wiling to pay for quality.”

 

However, there are some up and coming international markets that are appreciating more and more the high quality of U.S. wheat and are willing to pay the premium.

 

Wirsching: “Certainly there are a lot of drivers in the overseas market. Our buyers are becoming more and more sophisticated as they mechanize their own production thus quality becomes more important as we have a higher level of mechanization and sophistication in the overseas market.”

 

Some of those promising markets are The Philippines, Chile, Thailand Guatemala.